Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “aren't” come from?

aren't (English) comes from English -n’t, from English Not, from Middle English not, from Middle English nought, from Old English nōwiht, from Old English ne, from Old English ealles, from Old English -es — Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;...

Ancestry of “aren't”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-n’t—
2EnglishNot—
3Middle Englishnotnot; nothing, nought; nobody, no person
4Middle Englishnoughtnothing, none; not; iniquitous, wicked
5Old Englishnōwiht—
6Old Englishnenot; or, and not; "ne... ne..." is used to mean "...
7Old Englisheallescompletely, wholly, entirely; totally,...
8Old English-espossessive marker, indicating that an object...
9Proto-Germanic-as—
10Proto-Indo-European-ēsPrimarily forms adjectival bahuvrīhi compounds
11Proto-Indo-European-ess—
12Proto-Indo-European-osCreates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;...
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